A war is being waged against us by radical Islamists, and, as current events demonstrate, they are only getting stronger. Al-Qaeda has morphed into a much more dangerous, menacing threat: ISIS. Lt. General Michael T. Flynn is blunt and urgent. This book aims to inform the American people of the grave danger we face in the war on terror—and will continue to face—until our government takes decisive action against the terrorists that want nothing more than to destroy us and our way of life.

The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander

As a commander of Delta Force - the most elite counter terrorist organization in the world - Pete Blaber took part in some of the most dangerous, controversial, and significant military and political events of our time. Now he takes his intimate knowledge of warfare - and the heart, mind, and spirit it takes to win - and moves his focus from the combat zone to civilian life. As the smoke clears from exciting stories about never-before-revealed top-secret missions that were executed all over the globe, listeners will emerge wiser, more capable, and more ready for life's personal victories than they ever thought possible.

The Way of the Strangers: Encounters with the Islamic State

Tens of thousands of men and women have left comfortable, privileged lives to join the Islamic State and kill for it. To them, its violence is beautiful and holy, and the caliphate a fulfillment of prophecy and the only place on earth where they can live and die as Muslims. The Way of the Strangers is an intimate journey into the minds of the Islamic State's true believers. From the streets of Cairo to the mosques of London, Wood interviews supporters, recruiters, and sympathizers of the group.

Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam

By January 1968, despite an influx of half a million American troops, the fighting in Vietnam seemed to be at a stalemate. Yet General William Westmoreland, commander of American forces, announced a new phase of the war in which "the end begins to come into view". The North Vietnamese had different ideas. In mid-1967, the leadership in Hanoi had started planning an offensive intended to win the war in a single stroke.

Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda

On September 11, 2001, Doug Laux was a freshman in college, on the path to becoming a doctor. But with the fall of the Twin Towers came a turning point in his life. After graduating, he joined the Central Intelligence Agency, determined to get himself to Afghanistan and into the center of the action. Through persistence and hard work, he was fast-tracked to a clandestine operations position overseas. Dropped into a remote region of Afghanistan, he received his baptism by fire.

Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped

The ascension of Vladimir Putin - a former lieutenant colonel of the KGB - to the presidency of Russia in 1999 should have been a signal that the country was headed away from democracy. Yet in the intervening years - as America and the world's other leading powers have continued to appease him - Putin has grown into not only a dictator but a global threat. With his vast resources and nuclear weapons, Putin is at the center of a worldwide assault on political liberty.

I am No Expert says:"skip the first chapter (the intro read by Garry)"

Our ancestors crossed deserts, mountains, and oceans without even a whisper of what anyone today might consider modern technology. Those feats of endurance now seem impossible in an age where we take comfort for granted. But what if we could regain some of our lost evolutionary strength by simulating the environmental conditions of our forbears? Investigative journalist and anthropologist Scott Carney takes up the challenge to find out: Can we hack our bodies and use the environment to stimulate our inner biology?

When retired four-star general Stanley McChrystal and former Navy SEAL Chris Fussell cowrote Team of Teams, they drew on their experience transforming the US military's Special Forces into a flexible and nimble force that could defeat Al-Qaeda's decentralized network in Iraq. They proved that the agility, adaptability, and cohesion of small teams could be scaled up to large organizations while breaking down the silos that frequently cause problems.

Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

Decades before the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin lamented that English settlers were constantly fleeing over to the Indians - but Indians almost never did the same. Tribal society has been exerting an almost gravitational pull on Westerners for hundreds of years, and the reason lies deep in our evolutionary past as a communal species. The most recent example of that attraction is combat veterans who come home to find themselves missing the incredibly intimate bonds of platoon life.

The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State

How did the Islamic State attract so many followers and conquer so much land? By being more ruthless, more apocalyptic, and more devoted to state building than its competitors. The shrewd leaders of the Islamic State combined two of the most powerful yet contradictory ideas in Islam - the return of the Islamic Empire and the end of the world - into a mission and a message that shapes its strategy and inspires its army of zealous fighters.

On Combat: The Psychology and Physiology of Deadly Conflict in War and in Peace

On Combat looks at what happens to the human body under the stresses of deadly battle and the impact on the nervous system, heart, breathing, visual and auditory perception, memory - then discusses new research findings as to what measure warriors can take to prevent such debilitations so they can stay in the fight, survive, and win. A brief, but insightful look at history shows the evolution of combat, the development of the physical and psychological leverage that enables humans to kill other humans, followed by an objective examination of domestic violence in America.

Danger Close: Tactical Air Controllers in Afghanistan and Iraq

"America had a secret weapon," writes Steve Call of the period immediately following September 11, 2001, as planners contemplated the invasion of Afghanistan. This weapon consisted of small teams of Special Forces operatives trained in close air support (CAS) who, in cooperation with the loose federation of Afghan rebels opposed to the Taliban regime, soon began achieving impressive - and unexpected - military victories over Taliban forces and the al-Qaeda terrorists they had sponsored....

Enhanced Interrogation: Inside the Minds and Motives of the Islamic Terrorists Trying to Destroy America

In the dark days immediately after 9/11, the CIA turned to Dr. James Mitchell to help craft an interrogation program designed to elicit intelligence from just-captured top al-Qa'ida leaders and terror suspects. A civilian contractor who had spent years training US military members to resist interrogation should they be captured, Mitchell, aware of the urgent need to prevent impending catastrophic attacks, worked with the CIA to implement "enhanced interrogation techniques" - which included waterboarding.

The World until Yesterday: What Can We Learn from Traditional Societies?

Most of us take for granted the features of our modern society, from air travel and telecommunications to literacy and obesity. Yet for nearly all of its six million years of existence, human society had none of these things. While the gulf that divides us from our primitive ancestors may seem unbridgeably wide, we can glimpse much of our former lifestyle in those largely traditional societies still or recently in existence.

Team of Teams: New Rules of Engagement for a Complex World

Former general Stanley McChrystal held a key position for much of the War on Terror, as head of the Joint Special Operations Command. In Iraq he found that despite the vastly superior resources, manpower, and training of the US military, Al Qaeda had an advantage because of its structure as a loose network of small, independent cells. Those cells wreaked havoc by always staying one step ahead, sharing knowledge with each other via high-tech communications.

Playing to the Edge: American Intelligence in the Age of Terror

An unprecedented high-level master narrative of America's intelligence wars from the only person ever to helm both the CIA and NSA, at a time of heinous new threats and wrenching change. For General Michael Hayden, playing to the edge means playing so close to the line that you get chalk dust on your cleats. Otherwise, by playing back, you may protect yourself, but you will be less successful in protecting America.

Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command

Relentless Strike tells the inside story of Joint Special Operations Command, the secret military organization that, during the past decade, has revolutionized counterterrorism, seamlessly fusing intelligence and operational skills to conduct missions that hit the headlines and those that have remained in the shadows - until now. Because JSOC includes the military's most storied special operations units - Delta Force, SEAL Team Six, the 75th Ranger Regiment - as well as America's most secret aviation and intelligence units, this is their story, too.

Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan

Autumn 1944. World War II is nearly over in Europe but is escalating in the Pacific, where American soldiers face an opponent who will go to any length to avoid defeat. The Japanese army follows the samurai code of Bushido, stipulating that surrender is a form of dishonor. Killing the Rising Sun takes listeners to the bloody tropical-island battlefields of Peleliu and Iwo Jima and to the embattled Philippines, where General Douglas MacArthur has made a triumphant return and is plotting a full-scale invasion of Japan.

Armageddon: How Trump Can Beat Hillary

Timed for the critical presidential election season, New York Times best-selling author and noted political commentator Dick Morris provides a strategy and position on the issues for Republicans to attract crucial new voters to the party in order to win back the White House in 2016 and put an end to the Obama agenda of ruinous socialism. By using new issues, attracting new voters, and offering new alternatives, Republicans can win the election of 2016 and save America!

My Share of the Task: A Memoir

In this illuminating memoir, McChrystal frankly explores the major episodes and controversies of his eventful career. He delves candidly into the intersection of history, leadership, and his own experience to produce a book of enduring value. Joining the troubled post-Vietnam army as a young officer, McChrystal witnessed and participated in some of our military’s most difficult struggles. He describes the many outstanding leaders he served with and the handful of bad leaders he learned not to emulate.

Blood Year: The Unraveling of Western Counterterrorism

David Kilcullen was one of the architects of America's strategy in the late phases of the second Gulf War, and also spent time in Afghanistan and other hotspots. In Blood Year, he provides a view of the current situation in the Middle East and analyzes how America and the West ended up in such dire circumstances. This is an essential book for anyone interested in understanding not only why the region has collapsed into utter chaos, but also what the US can do to alleviate the grim situation.

Agent Storm

Morten Storm was an unlikely Jihadi. A six-foot-one red-haired Dane, Storm spent his teens in and out of trouble. A book about the Prophet Mohammed prompted his conversion to Islam, and Storm sought purpose in a community of believers. He attended a militant madrasah in Yemen, named his son Osama, and became close friends with Anwar al-Awlaki, the American-born terrorist cleric. But after a decade of Jihadi life, he not only repudiated extremism but, in a quest for atonement, became a double agent for the CIA and British and Danish intelligence.

The Undocumented Mark Steyn: Don't Say You Weren't Warned

He's brash, brilliant, and drawn to controversy like a moth to a flame. For decades, Mark Steyn has dazzled audiences around the world with his raucous wit and brutal honesty. Whether he's sounding off on the tyranny of political correctness, the existential threat of Islamic extremism, the "nationalization" of the family, or the "near suicidal stupidity" of America's immigration regime, Steyn is always provocative - and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.

Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps’ Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life

You walk into a restaurant and get an immediate sense that you should leave. You are about to step onto an elevator with a stranger, and something stops you. You interview a potential new employee who has the résumé to do the job, but something tells you not to offer the position. These scenarios all represent "left of bang", the moments before something bad happens.

Publisher's Summary

The storm gathers as we sleep. Despite vast amounts of blood and treasure expended since 9-11-2001, America and her allies are losing the war against Islamist violent extremists. For the first time since the War on Terror began, Green Beret Scott Mann, an original architect and implementer of this strategic program, reveals an immediately useful strategic framework to defeat ISIS, al-Qa'ida, and even criminal elements here at home. This isn't theory, this program started by Green Berets in the central highlands of Vietnam and mastered in the dusty villages of Afghanistan, holds the key to defeating Islamist violent extremists.

This book has a lot of real world practical experience that makes a lot of sense for dealing with other cultures that we are not familiar with. It is not just a military book, but a book to deal with cultures anywhere. I even shared it with my brother-in-law who is a missionary in Uganda to share a different perspective on how to deal with the native populations that he is dealing with.

Although the narrator obviously wasn't a professional narrator, being the original author he was able to share a passion that I don't know if a professional narrator would have been able to express. I especially liked his conclusions at the end of each chapter because it seemed like he was sharing from his heart, not a written page.

This is a solid work from a solid senior operator. He relates the challenge of working in an insurgency and relates it to what can be done on our own front door. The power of story and sharing the narrative is the basis of my own mission philosophy as I move forward in my Afghanistan mission as well as in my business.Don't pass this book by because you are not in the military or have anything to do with counter insurgency. You will find value in these words.

The author/narrator is the character, we owe a debt to our soldiers and their families we can never repay!

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

I greatly enjoyed the fact that the audio book was read by the author, as it gave greater credibility to hear it directly from the Author. The additional commentary, the candid way he spoke, and the upbeat and fluent dictation all added up to an enjoyable book for a very serious and important subject.

Any additional comments?

I love to read, and when I can not take the time to read I always have an audio book going, and this is a GREAT read and listen!<br/><br/>Like most Americans our family is not part of the military family, and we do not truly understand what is going on in the world, and I am realizing the narrative from the TV news is not the reality of our world. <br/><br/>The plan "Going Local" is so logical, the examples of the success are compelling, this plan seems to be a proven solution to combatting violent extremism and protecting Americans and the world. <br/><br/>We need to wake up and become informed from those who live it, have sacrificed for us, and have been there, not taking what our politicians and news outlets say as the true picture of the threats on America and the world!<br/><br/>I see applications or opportunities for the "Going Local" approach in my past business experiences, and immediate opportunities in the company I work now. I have therefore purchased hard copies of this book and sent them to our executive management team. <br/><br/>Thank you Lieutenant Colonel Mann, and to all of our military and their families for your service and sacrifice.... We are safe and free because of you! <br/><br/>TS & Family!